Slusher scraper bucket and blade assembly



Write Sttes tot I [72] Inventor Andrew C. Bluemel 2,716,824 Francis 172/265 5900 S. El Camino Drive, Englewood, 2,770,058 1 1/1956 Thomps0n.. 172/265 Colorado 80110 2,812,596 11/1957 Sch0field..... 172/2615 [211 App]. No. 673,373 2,959,307 11/1960 Schwartz 37/141(T)UX [22] Filed .lune4, 1965 2,981,015 4/1961 Duke 37/141(T)UX [45] Patented 0c1.6, 1970 3,027,027 3/1962 Bles 37/141(T)UX Adivision ofser- N0- 4 5, no 3,160,967 12/1964 Nichols 37/141(T)UX 3392465 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Bagwill Assistant Examiner-Alan E. Kopecki 541 SLUSHER SCRAPlER BUCKET AND BLADE 'W- McGrevY and Edwards ASSEMBLY 12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 172/265, f\BSTRACT: A slushe'r Scraper for packed load fining includ Int Cl 2:) mg bucket having interior load-contacting surface curved [50] Fieid 172 f top th ou h ba k ortion and merging with straight 12 lower portion. Bucket maintained upright when filling with i 1, HT) contact surface above center line substantially greater than [561 112:: ifiztshiigssg iz'itissEms:-

SI y-sl e reaion a UNITED STATES PATENTS forward end of straight portion permitting moving worn outer 1,597,005 8/1926 Ball et a1 172/26.5X edges to inside in remountingt Bifurcated portion of blades 2,105,320 1/1938 Heil .1 37/ 141(T) fitted on extension of straight portion with fastening through 2,285,039 6/1942 Lowe... 37/ 141 adpining surfaces preventing tilting. Assembly and replace- 2,390,611 12/1945 NlXOl'l 37/141UX ment may be made in the stope.

l I 1 I 1 I l l 11| 1 1. 1 l ,l l I -T' J Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet g, of 2 FIG. 4

mvuroR. ANDREW a LJEMEL BY vawg ffw SLUSIIER SCRAPER BUCKET AND BLADE ASSEMBLY SPECIFICATION The present application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 461,295, filed June 4, I965, now US. Pat. No. 3,392,465, for Scraper.

This invention relates to scrapers and more particularly to slushing scrapers arranged to be moved by drag lines or the like.

Slushing scrapers are commonly used where particulate materials are being handled as in mines, excavations, grading and construction work, etc. In mine operations, such scrapers move ore from one point to another and in most instances the slusher has a haul-in drag line and a haul-back drag line mov ing the scraper back and forth from a muck pile to a point of discharge.

Present day mining operations are requiring equipment of increasing capacity and many of the slusher scrapers now being ordered for use in mines are of such size that they have to be disassembled for delivery into the mine and then are reassembled at or near the use location. Where bolting is used to secure joined-parts, considerable delay and difficulty is occasioned in removal of bolts and in bolting joined parts in as sembly operations. Similarly, parts replacements which are frequently required on parts subjected to constant wear, as for example, digging blades, are difficult operations when performed at the stopes and removal of the worn parts and installation of replacement parts are difficult, tedious operations and frequently are performed inefficiently. This places an undue cost on the use of such equipment from the operators standpoint and becomes a source of annoyance.

The bucket of the slushing scraper has a digging edge and because of the considerable impact and erosion occurring along the cutting surface, replaceable blades are provided in many scrapers requiring periodic removal and replacement before the main components of the scraper are excessively worn and have to be discarded. The movement of the bucket carrying the blades into digging contact with the material being removed'is not uniform in rate or direction and considerable whipping of the outer leading edges of the blade or blades occurs in such movement. As a consequence, the outer corners of the blade members tend to wear and deteriorate at a more rapid rate than the remaining portions of the blade structure. If not removed promptly after such wear occurs, the blade loses efficiency and if the blade is removed and discarded when such wear has occurred, replacement costs may become excessive from the operators standpoint.

The present invention provides several important departures from prior practice in the construction and use of slusher scrapers. The entire slusher scraper assembly is of boltless arrangement, greatly simplifying underground assembly and replacement operations. The bucket portion of the assembly is so shaped and positioned in its operation that it packs the load being moved to a substantial extent and thereby provides increased capacity in relation to other scrapers of approximately equivalent dimension. Another innovation of the present practice is the provision for interchangeable blade mounting with the blades previously secured by fasteners other than bolts which permits worn outer edges of the scraper blade to be positioned as inner surfaces with less worn edges becoming the outer edge. This greatly extends the life of the scraper blades without impairment of efficiency.

One object of the invention is to provide a scraper of boltless construction which is durable, easily assembled and disassembled and provides increased protection of major points of wear to safeguard against impairment of efficiency.

Another object of the invention is to provide a scraper of boltless construction which is easily assembled or disassembled in underground locations and is arranged for quick and accurate replacement of worn parts.

A still further object of the invention is to providescraper blades which are interchangeable as to positions to compensate for wear, particularly at the edges of the scraper.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel design for a scraper which lifts and carries a load, has better stability on haul-in, and is provided with a wear skid for preventing skidding on the bucket blades on haul-back.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readily ascertained by referring to the following description and appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a scraper assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the scraper of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3, FIG. 2, and drawn to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a preferred form of scraper blade embodying features of my invention; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the scraper blade shown in FIG. 4.

The slusher scraper assembly shown in FIG. I is a representative embodiment utilizing features of my invention and includes a scraper bucket designated generally by the refer ence numeral 10 which includes a curved or arcuate back portion 12 merging with a lower straight portion 13 terminating in a blade supporting lip 14 at its lower edge and terminating in a top edge 16. Side members 18 and 2ll extend forwardly of the back portions 12 and 13 to complete the bucket enclosure. The bucket shaping permits the formation of an inner loadcontacting surface 15 which is curved from the top through the major back portion until it merges with the straight lower portion 13 and preferably such surface is a continuous curve.

The bucket 10 during its haul-in operation is maintained essentially in the position shown in FIG. 1 until completely filled with a packed load and as the centerline of the bucket in the direction of such movement would parallel the top and bottom of arms 30 slightly below the centerline of said arms and thereby locates a substantially greater part of the load-com tacting surface above and a lesser portion of the lifting surface below the centerline, so that the bucket lifts and packs the load in such position, giving it extraordinary capacity and reducing spillage.

In preferred practice, a pair of scraper blades is positioned on supporting lip 14 for digging contact'with the material being excavated. These blades are designated generally by reference numeral 22 (FIGS. 4 and 5) and as shown in FIGS. l and 2 the blades are arranged as a right-hand blade member 22a and a left-hand blade member 22b. These blade members are of corresponding size and shape, preferably identical, and have enlarged wear surfaces 23 extending along each end of the member from front to rear. The blades 22 terminate at their forward end in a digging edge 21 and the provision of the wear surfaces 23 protects the digging edge 21 from contact with material during the haul-back operation. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the blade members 22a and 2211 are mounted on the lip 14 at the forward portion of the bottom of the bucket and extend substantially across and beyond it to provide a digging edge. Various means 19 may be provided for securing the blades in position on the scraper by insertion through alined openings of the bucket and the blades exemplified by the openings 25 in blades 22a and 22b as shown in FIG. 2. When a boltless construction is preferred, tapered or wedge keys, split keys, such as shown at 19, bolts and nuts and the like may be used.

The bucket 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided with a central lug 26 for a haul-back rope for use with a two-drum system. Edge lugs (not shown) near the outer edge of the bucket may be provided for each of two haul-back ropes in a three-drum system, although this design provides stability so that the single haul-back rope is normally all that is needed. A skid 28 provides a wear guide for haul-back. The bucket design is such that pull on the lug 26 rocks the bucket backward off the blades and onto the skid.

A yoke-like harness consisting generally of identical arms 30 and 32 separately connected to opposite sides of the bucket is joined together by means of a nose assembly, shown in general by numeral 33, to which may be attached a haul-in ring 34. The arms are identical to keep manufacture simple and provide interchangeability.

The blades 22a and 22b are identical so that they may be interchanged, that is, placed on either side to compensate for wear which occurs to the greatest extent on the outside corner of the blade. After the outside corner wears back and becomes rounded, the blades may be reversed in position to provide an unworn corner. The worn corner then becomes the middle, leaving a central notch in the edge of the combined blades which is not detrimental to operation of the scraper. A blade, only one ofwhich will be described, is shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, and it includes a planar body 22 slightly sloped from its leading edge 21 to the back 27.

A recess 35 is provided in the blade back 27 to fit or telescope over an extension surface 36 of the bucket. This recess is formed by bifurcated portions 37a and 37b. A plurality of openings 25, such as shown in FIG. 2, spaced in pairs equally from each side of the recess 35 pass through the upper and lower portion of the blade 22b (FIG. 3) at the recess to provide means for attaching the blade to the bucket lip. The lateral edges are provided with built-up portions 23 as previously described to compensate for the extreme wear on those edges.

The shaping of the bucket includes a lower portion 13 (FIG. 1) extending in a straight plane inwardly from the lip 14 until the straight plane or flat portion merges with curved por tion 12 as shown in FIG. 1 and 3. The lower end of lip 14 within recess 35 acts as a pivot point as forces are directed against blade 2211 or 22b in the digging action. If it becomes desirable to provide a more durable and efficient joint, the portion 370 of blade 22b forwardly of recess 35 in the digging action may extend upwardly along portion 13 to a greater distance than the portion 37b on the opposite side of recess 35 and provide more resistance to rocking movement in the joint. In the digging action, the lower edge 21 of the digging blade and surfaces adjacent thereto represented by arrows A in FIG. 3 comprise an impact area with forces exerted against the blade as indicated by the arrows. Next above is a pressure zone B receiving a build-up of muck material with the forces directed against the blade assuming an upward component as indicated by the arrows at B. The progression of the bucket through the mucking operation causes continued elevation of material toward the top of the bucket in zone C until it is filled.

The geometry of the bucket provides a digging angle of the blade at about 3032 so that the load is rolled in the bucket, up the curved body. The load is lifted out of the muck pile, with the bucket getting under the load to carry it on the haul, rather than continually digging more muck which spills over the top and sides of the bucket. With the present design maximum rope pull is exerted only during the digging and filling of the bucket, a lesser rope pull is needed for hauling the filled bucket. With the prior art scrapers, the bucket is holding at all times so that maximum rope pull is exerted from the muck pile to the discharge.

The use of reversible blades drastically reduces the cost of construction as only one pattern is needed for each part, rather than two as in the prior art. Also, it reduces maintenance, and it reduces inventory. The boltless construction aids compensating for wear, and ease of assembly and disassembly in close quarters such as mines and the like.

While the invention has been illustrated with specific embodiments, there is no intent to limit the spirit and scope of the invention to the precise details so set forth except as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

I Scraper apparatus comprising bucket means having a back portion terminating in a forwardly extending lower edge for supporting replaceable blades, a pair of blades mounted on said lower edge in side-by-side relation, each said blade being symmetrical and of corresponding size and shape for reversible mounting at either side of said lower edge, and each said blade including a body portion terminating in a digging lead- LII ing edge and having a tapered rearward slotted portion in which the forwardly extending lower edge of the bucket means is fitted, and having an enlarged wear member mounted on the underside of the blade at each end, the forwardmost portion of each wear member terminating at the blade cutting edge, and there being passages in said blades registering with passages in said leading edge for receiving fastening means securing said blade to said edge, and means on the bucket for tilting the bucket to a rearwardly reclining position.

2. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said enlarged wear member extends above and below the digging edge.

3. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the tapered rearward portions of the blades are disposed to resist laterally directed forces against the digging edge.

4. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim I, in which the blade member has a bifurcated rear portion fitted about an ex tended surface of the lower portion of the bucket, the forward bifurcated surface being of a length not less than the rearward bifurcated surface, and said fastening means holding the adjoining surfaces against tilting movement.

5. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said blades are adapted for interchangeable mounting at the lower edge of the bucket means by reversing the position of the enlarged wear members.

6. Scraper apparatus comprising bucket means having a back portion terminating in a forwardly extending lower edge for supporting replaceable blades, a pair of blades mounted on said lower edge in side-by-side relation, each said blade being symmetrical and of corresponding size and shape for reversible mounting at either side of said lower edge, and each said blade including a body portion terminating in a digging leading edge and having a tapered rearward slotted portion in which the forwardly extending lower edge of the bucket means is fitted, and having an enlarged wear member mounted on the underside at each end of the blade, the forwardmost portion of each wear member terminating at the blade cutting edge, and there being passages in said blades registering with passages in said leading edge for receiving fastening means securing said blade to said edge, means associated with the bucket means for drawing said bucket means in a mucking operation so as to maintain it in an upright position in which the load-contacting interior surface above the centerline is substantially greater than the load lifting surface below the centerline. and means on the bucket for tilting the bucket to a rearwardly reclining position.

7. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim 6, including means associated with the bucket means for tilting the latter to a rearwardly reclining position when the bucket means becomes loaded.

8. Scraper apparatus comprising bucket means having a back portion terminating in a forwardly extending lower edge for supporting replaceable blades, a pair of blades mounted on said lower edge in side-by-side relation, each said blade being symmetrical and of corresponding size and shape for reversible mounting at either side of said lower edge, and each said blade including a body portion terminating in a digging leading edge and having a tapered rearward slotted portion in which the forwardly extending lower edge of the bucket means is fitted, and having an enlarged wear member mounted on the underside of the blade at each end, the forwardmost portion of each wear member terminating at the blade cutting edge, and the wear member enclosing the slotted portion at its ends, and there being alined rows of passages in said blades registering with alined rows of passages in said leading edge for' receiving fastening means securing adjoining surfaces against independent movement, and means on the bucket for tilting the bucket to a rearwardly reclining position.

9. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim 8, in which the fastening means hold the adjoining surfaces against tilting movement. i

10. Scraper apparatus as defined in claim 8, in which there are the same number of passages in each of said rows and the passages of said rows are uniformly spaced.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a blade member for slusher scrapers adapted for mounting in pairs of side-by-side corresponding blades on a front working edge of such a scraper with the forward edges of the blades alined in a common plane transverse to the path of movement of the scraper, each said blade having a rear slotted portion for receiving a forward supporting surface of the scraper, and having an enlarged wear member mounted on the underside of the blade at each end of the slotted portion for closing the slotted ends and for contacting a surface over which the blades are moved by the scraper, the forwardmost portion of each wear member 

